Design Mix:
Ever since the demand for good and high strength structures required for a human beings to accommodate the rapidly increasing population and as such the construction took a big leap and Engineers has been constantly improving the quality of Structures which can withstand Natures forces. So eventually humans started building concrete structures. Since then the time men had learnt to use concrete with some ambiguous concrete mix which includes cement, sand, and water. So human has adopted some mix ratio according to the quantity of cement they used for construction per cubic metre. And that mix proportion has eventually come to the fore and is named as "Nominal Mix".
But, then the Nominal Mix after using for years humans have realised that Nominal mix is not enough for some kind of special structure and for attaining specific strength. And in between Nominal mix was found to be a bit uneconomical for large scale construction. And Nominal mix is not more accurate and do not give an appropriate mixing quantity. And Hence, Engineers have come up with the "Design Mix". But Nominal mix is still prevalent and use widely all over the world for small scale construction with some definite proportion as mandated by the advisory authority in every country. Like in India "IS CODE" is followed for all kinds of concrete works.
So, "What is Mix Design"?
Mix Design or Design Mox is a method of concrete mix proportion in which constituents of concrete-like fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, water needed for mixing are worked out. Strength, durability and workability are considered in this mix design which gives good concrete with high performance.
So, Designing a mix as far as possible is a good practice. So, to get this mixed design you can always consult with Civil Engineer(QC/QA) for your projects. If not then you can always prefer a Nominal mix for small residential villas and apartments accordingly.
But, if you are Civil Engineers and have a little idea about this Mix design then you design your mix by using the excel sheet that has been provided for your kind reference only. So, download the following excel sheet and do it on your own.
Note: Concrete Mix design is based on IS:10262-1982
Click here to Download Mix Design Excel Sheet.
